Surface Tension
by Faux Promises
Summary: Things kept getting thinner between them with each passing day. And how much more of it could they take, before the ice would shatter from beneath them? He didn't like to imagine it. Sheelos, oneshot.


**A/N:** Hello again, _ma cherie_! I'm back again, swore to myself I'd have this up by the weekend. And I did myself one better than that, 'cause it's Wednesday. This one here is a songfic, and I honestly think it's one of my best works in a while. A good old _piece de resistance_! Hehe, I must be on a French hangup today. -chuckle- Hope you all enjoy. ;)

Disclaimer: I don't own ToS. Nor do I own the song "The Ice Is Getting Thinner". It's by Death Cab for Cutie.

x x x x x

_We're not the same, dear, as we used to be.  
__The seasons have changed, and so have we.  
__There was little we could say, and even less that we could do,  
__To stop the ice from getting thinner under me and you…_

A dull golden sparkle alit off the surface of the little trinket, dancing to the rhythm of the half-dead fire beside her. In her sleep she held it pressed close to her lips—like a prayer left unspoken—as the other hand lay by her side with fingers splayed. Quick rise and fall of her chest; yes, she was definitely asleep, he assured himself. It was enough to convince him to do this action so boldly.

At her side the Chosen sat calmly, somber as he stroked her hair in a gentle fashion. The tears on her face had yet to dry. They'd left her reddened cheeks covered with thin lines of moisture, frozen rivers captured for the moment in time. Blankets were wrapped tightly around her petite body, courtesy of him. Fall was approaching faster each day, and as this particular night grew longer, so did the chill the air held.

She had insisted on being the night watch that evening. That was a funny thought now that her body lay so very drained here before him, emotionally exhausted from the day's events at the lightning temple. No one else had seemed to consider that she wouldn't be able to keep awake for more than a few hours once she settled before the warmth of the fire.

Zelos, however, caught on to her intentions perhaps quicker than she did.

It was after everyone else had fallen asleep, leaving the forest silent, that she began to sniffle very softly. He had feigned sleep to allow her this time to herself, if not _completely _to herself. The sound was absolutely devastating, more and more so as the night went on. For almost an hour he listened to that raw heartbreak until she slipped into a blessed unconsciousness, in the grip of sleep at last.

Now he looked upon her with a feeling maybe even more intense than what she had just endured. Time would soothe the pain, and gradually the trauma would be replaced with fond memories of little Corrine. She would remember him with happiness before long, maybe.

He wondered if he'd ever know that kind of relief.

For the sad truth was, he acknowledged with a steady glance at the flames, _she_ would be on his mind for as long as he lived. Inside of him the sutures refused to heal, often freeing themselves anew. The grieving process went on and on, persistent as insomnia becomes late into the night.

There had been a day when they were young and even a little hopeful, a time when they had had each other's support; it seemed to come as some sort of answer to an unasked question. Though this resolved nothing, and served mostly as a counterlogic to the situation they currently found themselves in. A reality where the young summoner refused to even look at him.

He closed his eyes, fending off the desire to let tears fall himself. How could he have let them fall so far like this? He'd promised her that he would always be there for her, a promise that he had stood by even when it seemed lost and obsolete. Never say farewell, no matter what it took. He wouldn't let anyone take away his one blessing in this life.

And yet somehow…'goodbye' had found them anyway.

Such a beautiful thing '_hello_' was, he thought morosely, only to be reclaimed so easy. If only it could be held onto forever, that one moment when two pairs of eyes found themselves captured by each other; when everything else slowly fell away except that feeling of complete awe.

His gaze drifted from her sleeping face to the stars above as he thought quietly, somewhat relaxed by the glowing skyscape above. He traced the constellation of the Southern Cross with his eyes, a smile tugging at his lips.

She had always loved the heavens at night, like he had always loved her. A glowing expanse of silver and black, endless as only time itself could be. He thought it a bit interesting, how that worked…that she was simply enamored by something so very far beyond her reach.

But then again, maybe he had been doing the exact same thing all along. Staging his own swift demise with each of those hopeless, lovesick looks that he gave her.

_We buried our love in a wintery grave,  
__A lump in the snow was all that remained…_

The night sky had been the same navy shade only six months prior, when winter had blanketed the city in a fine powder of snow. He had been emerging from the castle's walls with a feverish need to find her, after the recent disclosure. A heated urgency which led him to look in such an unlikely place…and one which also happened to be correct.

Before the great statue of Martel, Sheena kneeled with her head bent in solemn worship. The church was empty, at the end of the evening, and the silence that surrounded them was nothing short of terrifying. The Chosen came to her side hesitantly, though with purpose.

She did not move nor gift him with her gaze until her prayers were at a close, only then allowing her attention to fall on the mess of red hair now peppered with snowflakes.

"_How_ could you have not told me?" Zelos found that his voice sounded cutting and unnatural in the silence, though how it could sound anything different was beyond his capacity at this point.

Her shadowed hazel eyes were almost devoid of emotion, the strain of it showing in the way she had set her jaw. "And what difference do you suppose that would have made? My village has been asked specifically for a skilled agent to carry out this mission. You understand its importance, don't you? I can't let just anyone do it." Transparently, she didn't let herself look at him as she said this.

"That is _bullshit_, Sheena!" His deep icy eyes contrasted hers, bright and very much ablaze. "What it _is_, is it's the hero thing with you again. You won't let anyone else do it because you feel like you have to _prove_ something to them all. And you'll do something so stupid and suicidal…"

He ended abruptly for a moment, letting his hands fall to his sides in almost resignation. "You'll make a much better leader of Mizuho when you're _alive_, don't you think? If you get killed, you're gonna leave all of your friends back home, and _I_…I'm…"

So characteristic of her, she put her hands on her hips. This was one of her gestures that meant 'I can take care of myself' in laymen's terms. "You _what_? You can't be proud of me? I _will _be a hero if I return successful. I'll never be anything more than an outcast to Tethe'alla—to Mizuho, even—if I don't soon get something right."

She sighed, shook her head as she leaned against the stone wall. Of course he couldn't understand. People would probably love him no matter what he did; she had to work twice as hard just to get the slightest nod of approval from the rest of the world.

From her expression, and from many conversations of this nature, he knew that her thoughts were turning in that direction. He rolled his eyes without quite meaning to. "Yeah, you've always thought_ I_ had it easy. Maybe that's what everyone thinks about me: such a romantic role is the Chosen One!" For a moment he paused, thinking on the significance of the statement. "And maybe that's true. But you know, if it really is, then it's sure not one that ends in 'happily ever after.' It's a classic tragedy, and it always will be."

Quieted for once, Sheena felt her conviction towards him begin to fade. Those were strong words; she had hoped he didn't think so painfully on thoughts like that. But how could he not?

He continued, looking at her hard and serious. "I have no family but a sister who probably hates the hell out of me, no friends to speak of, and all the money in the world that I'd sooner burn than exchange for an existence like this. So life's a fucking bowl of cherries, isn't it?"

Extremely out of the ordinary, the summoner felt herself tensing in discomfort as he closed the small space between them. He placed two gloved fingers under her chin, lifting her eyes to look at his. They weren't so very impassioned anymore, but only sad. Maybe that hadn't been anger…maybe that was his sadness. It was an elusive kind of sadness she could never keep track of, but it lived inside him so faithfully like an old friend. He knew it well, even if he tried not to.

"You die, and what does that leave me with?" He asked it very carefully, though in the manner of someone who did not expect a reply. "Memories?"

"I…I don't know." Her eyes seemed to look through him when she replied, and it chilled him somewhere deep within. "But…you've always been strong; I know you. You'll be fine…even without me."

She smiled weakly with this, turning to go before she broke down. If she lost it now, she might not ever be able to leave, and that was simply out of the question. Zelos seized her arm before she could turn away from him, however.

Always it was hard to be confronted with those midnight blue eyes when he showed such concentrated emotion in them. Even more so when it was ardent affection for her, as they were at the moment. The ninja blinked back at him apologetically, lowering her head to indicate that there was nothing more she could say or do.

He made the decision for them, to swiftly pull her into his arms in a tight hug. His curtain of unruly red locks brushed over her shoulder as she felt him gently touch his lips to hers, a comfort that she didn't quite realize how much she needed. A warm and familiar sensation filled her when they deepened the gesture further, her tongue meeting his with the tender intimacy they had shared with each other for many years gone by. She wilted into his reassuring strength, toyed fondly with the curled ends of his hair.

When they broke the kiss apart, neither of them knew words to speak. They held on to those last few moments together in silence, listening only to their own soft breaths there within the darkness.

_Though we stayed by its side as the days turned to weeks,  
__The ice kept getting thinner with every word that we'd speak…_

Winter had plummeted to savage temperatures by a month's time later, diamondesque icicles hanging from the eaves of each house in collections that caught the morning sunlight brilliantly. The snow was no longer a powder, but rather a thick, heavy layer of white that wrapped the city in its freezing vice. This year, the season was particularly cold.

The red-haired Chosen lay awake in bed that early morning, buried in every kind of blanket he could get his hands on. He hated the cold almost as much as he hated the snow itself. It wasn't what kept him up, though. His own mind was most often what did that.

Before him he held a shabby photograph, the edges bent and torn from handling. A girl at the age of sixteen or so looked back at him with bright young eyes, dark bangs spilling around her face carelessly. She'd worn a stunning pink summer dress that afternoon on the beach, something she picked out special for the occasion. It was her birthday. Oh, but he had promised to take her there a long time prior; it was somewhere she hadn't been, and therefore so very exciting.

Zelos smiled somberly, brushing a thumb over the flushed rose color of her cheeks. That had been such a joyful point in time. The day they stopped being best friends and started being, well…something else. Something to treasure forever.

For ages he had wanted to just kiss her, to do it and get it over with; but that never worked out quite right. He considered first that she might react with insult. Then, even if she did allow him, he couldn't help but entertain the notion that he would do it wrong and look like an idiot.

So he'd flipped through the vast collection of books in his late parents' library; anything with a sappy sounding title was first checked. He was, of course, disappointed to find that _that_ didn't help in the least. It was always so flowery and dramatic, or worse, went way farther than he dared to even imagine. Blushing, he had snapped a few shut, rather abashed at the thought of taking his already tentative intentions to that kind of level.

In the end, the moment had found _him_ instead. Sheena, grinning brightly in the faded dusk sunshine as they walked back to the city hand in hand, was muttering a great many thanks for the wonderful day. Behind her Corrine trailed at her feet, distracted by a passing dragonfly he was quite determined to catch. All the while the Chosen had assured her it was nothing, smiling because _she _was smiling.

And then her slender arms were around him to punctuate all her happiness, glancing up shyly into his soft blue eyes. He felt his own face warmed by the fact that her already well-developed chest was pressing against him, though she didn't quite catch that.

That had been the right time, the right place. He didn't let it pass him by.

Such a clear thought in his mind, that single instant; it seemed hard to imagine now that she was in some faraway land, on a mission to kill a girl who was most definitely not going to be an easy target. No one in their right mind would let such an important person wander around unguarded. This otherworldly Chosen could have any number of mercenaries or militia to guard her, and though the ninja was most assuredly a skilled creature in stealth, she didn't stand a chance against the steel and strength of twenty men.

He slid the photo into his pillowcase where it was safely kept, sighing as he rolled onto his back. Why didn't he just go with her? Protecting her was definitely his job. To picture her with arms bound in some dank prison cell, not even a crack in the wall to see sunlight from—

Annoyed with his own pessimism, Zelos stopped himself from that dismal train of thought. No, she was a capable young lady. She would be fine. Certainly she had to be.

But…in the meantime, he wasn't so very fine himself. The days dragged by with sickening slowness. Nowadays, without her by his side, every snobbish, dull-witted heiress in town was determined to tail after him all day long. He found it amusing to play ingenuously to their fly-by-night doting over him, to smile and tell them how very lovely they looked today if it was enough to satisfy their need to be acknowledged. But it came as more of a needless burden than anything else. He sighed each day as he came home and shut the door behind him, waving off the sea of curtsies and kisses blown his direction.

What he really wanted was to just be left alone, forget for a while who he was, and wait for his dear little Sheena to return. His list of desires seemed to end there, but right now that was all that really mattered. If only she was alright…

He'd never been a religious man; and yet he found himself tracing a quick cross over his chest. If Martel was any good, she would keep Sheena safe until he could do so once again.

_And when the spring arrived, we were taken by surprise,  
__When the flows under our feet bled into the sea.  
__Nothing was left for you and me._

Perhaps they both knew that things would have never been the same for them after that, bearing in mind the sudden rush of change and tumult that followed the attempted assassination of Sylvarant's Chosen. Zelos had known well himself that she did not possess the streak of cold-bloodedness that would be necessary for her to commit such a brutal act of murder. Nor, however, did he anticipate she would bring back the little blonde girl and three of her friends to the flourishing world. That complicated things quite a bit.

The reunion of the two possessed a nonchalant air of distantness, an unnatural attitude that they silently could not stand in the least. She had rejoined them at Sybak in the middle of a small crisis, and following that he had noticed very specifically that she was avoiding him. He wondered if she thought that he believed she betrayed Tethe'alla by bringing back the enemy.

He was not long in realizing that this was not the case. No…the intense way she would throw glares his way every now and then was unmistakable.

To her, _he _was the traitor.

He didn't truly realize how deep this had cut her; not just yet, anyway. It became apparent on an evening the group spent at his place, fresh from having snuck their way into the city via the sewers. Sheena was agitated in particular toward him in return for his behavior that day, especially his claim of having made scores of nightly escapades through that very method of leaving the city.

Something in her roiled at the thought that he had simply written her off after she left for the other world. She wouldn't have ever expected herself to mean so little to him, not with the kind of relationship they had always had. The thought baffled her, but more urgently…it made her angry.

Young and stupid, she called herself afterwards. Stupid enough to let him ensnare her emotions so gravely. That much was evident. All warm memories and feeling she had had for him receded; she kept them hidden somewhere between pure loathing, and complete sorrow at the loss of someone she had loved so very profoundly.

In her mind, Zelos as she had known him was dead. Winter had seen them in each other's arms as the world around them froze in so many different ways. Now spring had melted everything away, and she was swept up in the flood left therein.

He wouldn't be there to save her. Not anymore.

This was running through her mind as she sat on his couch, everyone else dispersed into their temporary rooms for a much-needed rest. The day had seen a fight with the aggressive female agent of Cruxis, Pronyma, as well as Colette's recovery from her vacant angelic state. Lloyd was sitting in the front with her now, presumably catching her up on all that she had missed. Sheena felt a bittersweet twinge of envy for them, half recalling when she had loved to spend time talking endlessly with _her _former sweetheart. Bastard though he had become, she couldn't seem to hate that version of him that had existed in the past. It frustrated her in that regard.

The Chosen picked that same time to come sit next to her, himself concerned with the fact that she hadn't wanted dinner. She felt his presence near her and scooted in the opposite direction purposefully.

He didn't say anything as he looked at her for a few long moments, knowing what that estranged expression on her face probably meant. She had fallen for his blithe, carefree attitude as much as the rest of them had. So regrettable it was that she was caught up in this mess; more regrettable still that it had cost him her trust.

"Sheena…?" Her name left him with a sort of condemned hesitation, quiet and tenuous. She didn't reply nor look at him. Her arms were folded, eyes directed at her lap. He waited for some indication that she knew he was there, even if it was just to tell him how much she hated him.

"Just leave me alone, can't you?" she snapped in a low voice, still not looking at him. She swept her bangs out of her face irately, likely without the intention of revealing the water that was threatening to fall from her deep brown eyes.

He winced at her anger, and more so at the fact that he had made her cry. That was just unacceptable regardless of circumstances. Zelos opened his mouth to say something, but she stopped him before he could say anything. Her dark gaze had turned from a mixture of contained annoyance and hurt to complete fury.

"I'm not here because I want to hear your excuses, you…stupid, idiot Chosen!" Sheena wiped the wetness off of her eyes in a quick motion, not caring at the moment if he saw that he had gotten to her. "These people are my friends now, and I trust Colette and Lloyd to help me do whatever is best for both worlds. But if you think for _one moment _that I'm going to make nice with you just because you're along for the ride, you are _very_ mistaken."

The redhead stared back at her in surprise, his own blue eyes matching her contempt with helpless sadness. She wavered slightly at that look—that sadness. The first trace of him that she recognized since last they parted ways.

Less intense, but still very serious, she went on. "I…I don't know what happened to you. I came back like I promised you I would, but you...you were the one who really left, weren't you?"

He didn't answer.

"It doesn't matter now, though," she finished quickly, shaking her head. "It doesn't matter to me what you do. You're free as ever to be a liar and a philanderer and whatever else makes you happy. Just…leave me out of it. Now and forever."

The Chosen watched in sobered silence as she turned to go, informing him roughly that she was going to go to the shower, and that he best not follow her in the least unless he wanted to have the ability to reproduce beaten out of him.

Then, she was gone. And she did not look back at him.

He sat there for a good fifteen minutes absorbing what she had just done to him, still disconcerted at the words she had used. A liar and a philanderer. She truly did believe that he had just abandoned her without a second thought. It made him wonder how much faith she had had in him to begin with, that she had not even given him an opportunity to say a word…

Maybe they had always been walking on thin ice. Maybe it had just taken a little bit of pressure, and they fell right through.

When he walked upstairs for the night, knowing full well that he would sleep poorly, he passed the washroom with the noise of the shower a gentle whoosh from behind the door. Inside, the sound of faint sobbing was just discernible. Her tough talk had meant nothing, after all.

He stood there helpless. There was nothing to do but listen and lament, because he had committed the gravest sin. He had destroyed the only person he knew how to love.

She'd meant everything to him, and all he could do with a gift so wonderful was to break it.

_We're not the same, dear, and it seems to me,  
__There's nowhere we can go, with nothing underneath.  
__And it saddens me to say what we both knew was true  
__That the ice was getting thinner under me and you._

Remembering that time made him shudder, even despite the warmth of the fire. He wondered every day if he could ever repent for hurting someone he cared so deeply for. Sin came in so many different forms, and even though he had meant well…

Well, what was it they said? The road to hell is paved with good intentions?

Ah, of course he meant well, the young Chosen thought bitterly. He gazed into the pretty face asleep beside the flames, still so sorrowful without even knowing it. How much more would she suffer, when she found out that he was working for their enemies while they slept peacefully.

Zelos shook his head, tossing his lengthy red locks out of his face. What a strange assortment of irony he was. He wasn't the despicable traitor, but only a man who foresaw what was inevitably to come. Forces were going to clash, and someone was going to win and someone would have to lose. He wasn't going to be on the losing side; not when he had something to protect.

What frightened him was the thought that she would never forgive him for betraying her with such lies as he had. Just because he wasn't the philanderer she thought he was didn't mean he still hadn't abandoned her when she needed him most. It was an unavoidable consequence of his treacherous position.

He knew fairly well that she may not take his side when things came down to it. She had bonded with these other people when she'd lost _him. _And yet he still could only think on her, her safety and happiness and well-being. Even if she hated him, he would die for her anyway.

He supposed maybe, just maybe, _that_ was what love was.

A few inches from him Sheena shifted in her sleep, the little bell falling from her hand. It met the ground with a soft _cling_, though not loud enough to wake her or the others. He stared after it a moment before plucking it off the ground, looking at it as if it possessed some sort of ethereal powers.

For her, it certainly did. It was a talisman of Corrine, something that she would use in the days to come to remind her that he had not disappeared forever. That he existed still in her heart, though he no longer could be with her in presence.

He knew how that felt. Smiling for the first time that night, he drew something from the depth of his shirt pocket. That old photograph, so sacred and dear to him for all the time she had been far away. Just looking at it, he could still perceive of that sweet, vivacious scent she had always managed to ensorcel him with.

Leaning over to her, he pressed the golden object back into her hand, closing her fingers gently around it. Certain enough that she was still fast asleep, he decided in a moment's time that she deserved his keepsake now. Maybe, she would remember.

Parting her robes ever so slightly, the Chosen carefully eased the precious picture into an inner pocket. She'd find it there later, knowing her. He liked to imagine the mute surprise she would feel when she saw her own beautiful young face captured in time. She would know who it belonged to. And who belonged to _her _forever.

He took her free hand carefully to leave a delicate kiss on the palm, enjoying for that sparse minute the feel of her soft skin. Thin ice, he'd called it only a short while ago, what they had been walking on so precariously. But that, perhaps, was not the whole of it. He thought back through the past few months…from the certainty with which she had kissed him that final night, across the days he spent lonely and thinking about her in a wistful daze. Up until they were together again, and somehow a million miles apart. And then just a few hours ago, with the loss of her dear friend.

So much had happened, but what did that truly mean? He didn't think it meant that they failed. It meant that they were human. It meant that they would be bound together for as long as they lived. It meant that the ice could melt right out from under them, and they would still know how to swim.

And come what may, he promised himself silently…he would _not_ let them drown.

* * *

**A/N: **Ahaha, so there you have it. I catered to my angsty side a bit this time. And my fluffy side just a touch. In any case, remember to **R & R **please! I always enjoy +faves of course but reviews are particularly uplifting if you know what I mean. But thanks for reading either way. ;) As usual there may be errors 'cause I was quick in uploading this but I'll check soon as I get home from school, lmao.

Lovez you,

-FP


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